Houston Rockets Honor Kenny Smith!

Nice. As the years roll on you kinda wish they'd retire his jersey. He was on both title teams unlike Clyde.

 

If we retire Kenny's jersey, we'd have to retire The Original Gansta Casey, too.

 

Maybe just a OG Casey bobblehead night would be good enough.

 

The whole team was on fire in that game two! Even Chilly Pete was firing away that night. So much fun. I probably watched that game ten times.

 

Welcome back? So he sees himself as a Rocket again?

 

Can we just hire Kenny...

 

As head coach

 

I don't think Harden would listen to Kenny if he coached our team. He seems like a cool dude to hang with, not the type that demands respect as a coach. Whatever happened to the Mario Elie to coach thing? I thought his name was mentioned by top management last decade ago.

 

Kenny came into league as a more "traditional" point guard getting high assist numbers, good scorer but not a good outside shooter actually, not good on D.

In "Rudyball", Kenny adapted his role from less true PG responsibilities and became a solid outside shooter, improved his D from bad to ok.

Kenny wasnt a rough physical player, he lacked size and muscle in a physical era. He wasn't a total marshmallow either, so it could be frustrating seeing hard D neutralize his dribble driving and wonder why he didnt use his quickness more. Through it all, Kenny could always put the ball through the hoop efficiently.

Kenny as a player I am appreciative of his contributions to the title teams. I am not too fond of Kenny's sports analysis, or the "Jet" moniker lol. But like his outside shot made up for his shortcomings, his Clutch City contributions makes up for his commentating.

 

With the way Pat Bev is playing and now you have Goudebladder too. Come on. Pat Bev is top 6 pg in the league these days with the way he's playing.

 

I never hear Kenny Smith say good things about the Rockets teams. Not just this year but even last several years while broadcaster for TNT. He and Barkley just love to blast the organization. Now that we honored him, maybe he can cut us some slack. I can understand his criticism this year but last year???

 

He did say some good things to save his face sometime, but he just sucks like Shaq and Berkeley. I read somewhere, he was labeled as one of the worst sport TV analysis person.

 

I'll take it!

 

All of what you said is true but one thing missed is what a good athlete he was. Kenny used to jump out of the building and he had that in the seasons before the championships. He is a great example of a guy who evolved his game as time went on *turns head and looks at Dwight*. His shooting really improved and who can forget him ducking under Anfernee Hardaway to make a 3 and tie up the game to send it into overtime.

Also, Kenny is a composed type of guy. He isn't going to show too much love or hate for any team that he played for. College years and below would be the exception as those are teams you choose to play for as a young kid.

 

Players that have worn #30 after Kenny Smith

Thomas Hamilton (2000)
Clarence Weatherspoon (2004-2005)
Justin Williams (2008)
Troy Daniels (2014-2015)

 

Yeah...Kenny Smith evolved right in front of our eyes as Rockets fans.

First, it's easy to forget that Kenny Smith was a lottery pick...of the Sacramento Kings. He had more than enough accolades coming out of North Carolina and playing there four years (alongside Michael Jordan and James Worthy as a freshman).

Kenny was a great athlete (competed in a slam dunk contest one season, I think)...great speed and quickness with the basketball, especially (hence, the nickname "The Jet"). Hard for most of us to remember that about Kenny because we didn't see as much of that from him (mostly because of Hakeem...no need to crowd the paint with a generational player like Olajuwon in the pivot)...especially towards the tail end of his career, where chronic tendonitis and knee problems virtually robbed him of his ability to move around a basketball court prematurely.

Kenny only had a ten-year NBA career. The last two or three were more-or-less fillers for trade considerations.

But what I most remember about Kenny Smith was when the Rockets acquired him from the Atlanta Hawks (...someone help me...was that through trade or free agency?), was how well he played when Hakeem went down in 1991.

The Rockets were still trying to sort themselves out and figure out what kind of team they were and what kind of team they were going to be...and Hakeem getting injured by Bill Cartwright in a game in the Summit might have been a blessing in disguise...especially with the benefit of hindsight.

Forced to play without Hakeem for an extended period, the Rockets (under Don Chaney then) were able to run a lot of pick-and-roll sets in the half court with Kenny and Otis Thorpe (another highly underrated player for the Rockets, especially nationally) to great success. They kept their playoff hopes alive that year, just missing the post-season.

But the team's performance during that stretch, I believe, did as much as anything else to help convince the Rockets and Hakeem (who was in the middle of some nastiness with Steve Patterson that's well-documented) that the Rockets were closer than anybody outside of Houston knew to competing for a title...

...much is made of how well the Rockets fared against the reigning champion Chicago Bulls of that time in regular season matchups, for instance...

...and also, Kenny and Hakeem developed a rapport and chemistry together that Kenny rarely ever fails to mention. It's pretty easy to say that Kenny wouldn't have been as revered a player (and certainly not a champion) if not for Hakeem Olajuwon.

...except that that's not entirely true. The only reason why most of the nation believes that Hakeem Olajuwon was a two-time NBA champion virtually unassisted was because people tend to look for pedigrees for validation, instead of performance.

Kenny Smith got the job done here for the Rockets. In more ways than one.